at the National Library of Israel, Givat Ram Campus of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem

Research

Mathilde Tagger Prize for Genealogical Research and Research Prize for MA/Doctoral Theses

1. The International Institute for Jewish Genealogy and Paul Jacobi Center (IIJG) awarded a $5,000 research prize in the name of the late Mathilde Tagger to Dr. Kamila Klauzińska (Poland) for her 2012 doctoral dissertation on “Modern Genealogy of Polish Jews“.

2. Mathilde Tagger was an internationally-recognised exponent of Sephardic genealogy. Her many pioneering contributions, culminating in the Montefiore Census Project and two major works on Sephardic names (due to be published shortly), helped advance the field significantly. She was a Founding Member of the International Institute for Jewish Genealogy in 2005 and did stalwart service as its Honorary Secretary from 2006 to 2012. The prize is being offered as a tribute to her selfless dedication to the cause of academic Jewish genealogy, which is at the heart of IIJG’s Mission.

3. Dr. Klauzińska’s thesis (in Polish) is based on extensive genealogical research at the macro- and micro- levels. It illuminates the interdisciplinary nature of Jewish genealogy and makes the academic case for teaching the subject at the university level. Part of her commendation reads: “[This work] certainly should be useful to anyone interested in Polish Jewish genealogy because of the rich data it brings together.”

5. An extract from Ms. Golan’s commendation notes that: “[After making] her contribution to understanding [Jewish] marriage patterns [in Poland], her findings can help make sense of otherwise inexplicable genealogical findings and explain why ancestors chose the mates that they did. In short – this is a contribution both to history and genealogical explication.”.